Dining in Crikvenica and Selce, Croatia

Restaurants in Crikvenica and Selce                               **Updated for summer 2019**

**For ideas on what to order at a restaurant in Croatia, check out our dining video on my Youtube travel channel: “Croatian Food: Out to Dinner with Jen and Miloš“

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Considering the number of reviews we’ve written on our dining experiences in Croatia, I thought it was about time that I posted a blog entry just on some of the dining options in Miloš’ hometown of Crikvenica.  (Remember how to say it?  “Tsreek-VEN-eet-sah.”) 

Crikvenica is our home in Croatia.

Located along the northern coastal area of the country, about 25 minutes south of Rijeka, Crikvenica is a popular summer tourist area on the Adriatic, with beaches and beautiful coves stretching for miles. 

This area of Croatia is well known for olive oils, truffles, cheese, and prosciutto.  Home cooking is alive and well, and that tradition is carried over into many of the area’s restaurants. 

Many restaurants in Crikvenica are seasonal, and only some are open year-round.

RESTAURANTS….

Burin

One of our favorite restaurants in Crikvenica, Burin has never disappointed us.  We’ve eaten here many times over the years, and each time we’ve loved it.  The owner is helpful and really cares about his customers.  Some of our favorite dishes include the home-made scampi pasta (made with pljukanci pasta), the steak Paris (with a sauce that is to DIE for), the fried calamari, and anything made with truffle sauce.  The beef soup here is fantastic.  Think traditional home-made clear beef noodle soup, just like grandmom’s.  I also recommend the dessert palacinka with ice cream and berries with vanilla sauce.  Always impeccable service, and a nice comfortable atmosphere.  It is also one of the few restaurants that stays open year round, and they even have special wine nights during the winter months. 

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Restaurant Domino

We’ve enjoyed ALL our meals here – anything from pastas to meats to seafood.  They have great soups as well, including scampi soup.  On one of my visits, I had turkey medallions with orange sauce, which was SO good.  Miloš loved his steak with truffle sauce.  But my absolute favorite dish is Buzara Domino – various shells and scampi in a white wine garlic butter sauce.  You also can’t go wrong with their scampi pasta.  We’ve always had great service here, and the restaurant has a nice ambiance.  They are also open in the winter season. 

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Dida 

An absolute treasure by the sea!  Open-air terrace overlooking the Adriatic, as well as indoor seating.  Gourmet dining and top-of-the-line service.  Some of the menu items change with the season, so you can easily try new things depending on when you go.  We’ve had some excellent soups here, and our favorite entree currently is the Roman Gnocchi – which is a polenta type cake served with scampi meat and a truffle sauce.  Every course is served with various local olive oils and fresh bread.  Another bonus, is that this restaurant is open year-round!  Prices here are higher than the other restaurants in town, but you get what you pay for!

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Balustrada

For years, this has been one of our favorite places to go for cocktails, but this season, they’ve added meals and tapas.  Everything is home-made with the utmost care and attention.  Wonderful tasting menus that change daily; made only with the freshest ingredients.  And while you’re dining, you can enjoy the best cocktails in town!
Dinner is served after 7pm.

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Riva

Nestled along the marina of Selce, this little restaurant serves up great food and excellent service!  They have a real wood grill, which imparts a delicious flavor to your grilled foods.  The fried calamari was perfectly cooked with a light fluffy batter.  The blitva (swiss chard with potatoes) was not too salty and was rich in flavor.  Service is quick and friendly.  Plus, you just can’t beat the location!

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Bodulka

The location of this restaurant can’t be beat – it’s dead center of town, by the sea, and it’s literally near everything.  The food is excellent, with many home-made specialties.  The scampi pasta is served with a creamy white sauce, and Miloš gives it a ten out of ten.  The Adriatic fried calamari is tender and meaty, and served with a tasty garlic sauce.  Miloš could drink liters of the scampi soup, which has a creamy garlic base, and is rich with scampi meat.  We also really enjoyed the cheese and prosciutto platter, which features cheese from the nearby island of Krk.  (Croatia’s largest island.)  They have an extensive menu to choose from and they do stay open for part of the winter season as well.

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Ox Burgers and Chicken

Best burgers in town!  I’m partial to the “Red Pool” burger, which has crispy onions, peppers, and a chili sauce with the slightest hint of spiciness.  They also have hot dogs and chicken sandwiches.   I love that I can get onion rings here, as they are hard to come by in Croatia, and this American girl loves her onion rings!

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Zrinski

They have some really delicious scampi soup here!  It’s more of a shrimp/scampi bisque, and it’s super tasty.  The restaurant is off of a small alley way, and is family owned.  Once inside, the restaurant has a nice open garden feel.  We’ve been here many times over the years.  Miloš likes their steak and their scampi soup.  We also enjoy their shrimp skewer appetizer, which is grilled shrimp and tomatoes, served on arugula and olive oil.  The menu is really extensive, so there’s something for every taste!  The service is also excellent.  (Sadly, they are not open year-round.)

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Korso (Corso)

As one of the restaurants along the sea side, the location is quite lovely.  The same family that runs Zrinski also runs Corso.   The food here is great, and the service is top notch.  There is a very happy friendly vibe to the restaurant.  Everyone is very personable.  (The ladies will not complain about the attractive wait staff here… *wink wink*)  The portions are really big, and the food is great!  Their bruschetta was super garlic-y, which we loved!  I also really loved the cream of broccoli scampi soup.  I also like their goat cheese salad.  (They are sadly closed for the winter off-season.)

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Konoba Karoca (recently added to the list)

One of our new favorites in Crikvenica, and open year-round!  A traditional Konoba restaurants with a fantastic selection of traditional Croatian food: seafood, pastas, meat – everything we’ve had is really excellent!  Friendly service!

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Restaurant Amor

Okay, the food we had here was really very good, but alas, we had a negative experience the last time we went because of other patrons smoking inside the establishment.  It could have gone in our favor, but the server seemed to not want to talk to the other customers about the smoking.  (He only offered to turn on the ventilation, which didn’t help with the smoke smell.)  I will add that smoking inside restaurants is NOT allowed in Croatia.  Other than that, he was a good waiter (on our first visit, we had nothing but a positive experience), but if we are going to spend good money on a nice meal out, we don’t want our food to taste like an ash tray. Had that experience not happened, we most certainly would have returned again.  It’s a shame too, since this restaurant is one of the few open year-round.

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Maslina

Although it’s not much to look at from the outside, the inside is quite roomy and comfy.  It’s smack dab in the middle of town – across the street from the main sea-side promenade area.  This restaurant serves up a great deal on calamari, and offers authentic Croatian dishes at a good price.  The staff is also really friendly.  Open year-round, with shortened hours in winter.

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Step

This is a good option for pizza and traditional Croatian/Balkan meat dishes.  Miloš likes the ćevapčići here.  Service is great too – attentive, fast, friendly.  Good prices as well.

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Aries

A casual seaside option with picnic tables.  For a long time, this was the go-to place for calamari for Miloš and his friends.  Simple and delicious.  VERY good prices.

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Kantunic (this restaurant is under new ownership, and we have yet to try it since the change.  This review is based upon the previous management.)

Located in the Selce area of Crikvenica, we were super pleased with our experience here.  First, our server was top notch excellent.  He was friendly, knowledgable, and attentive.  He knew the menu inside and out, and made really good recommendations.  Their scampi soup tasted like it had more of a tomato/fish base, versus the creamy kinds in some of the other restaurants.  But it was good and tasty.  My home-made pasta dish with olive oil, garlic, and prosciutto was fantastic.  I LOVED it.  Miloš tried something new – steak pasta with a really tasty sauce (recommended by the waiter).  It had a bit of spiciness to it (which Miloš usually doesn’t like), but he devoured it, and cleaned his plate.  (That should tell you how good it was.)  The restaurant is totally seaside with great views.  The decor inside is a lovely rustic Mediterranean.  You can also see what’s going on in the open kitchen.  The menu had a great selection of fish dishes, which we didn’t get to try, but we can only imagine from our experience that they are also great.  (The table next to us seemed super happy with their fish plate.)  We would absolutely recommend this place and will go back ourselves!